


take off your mask (it's nice to meet)

by DreamBrother



Series: a little parenthesis in eternity [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23675428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamBrother/pseuds/DreamBrother
Summary: AU different first meeting -  what if Steve and Danny ended up sitting up next to each other on the plane the day Danny moves from Jersey to Oahu to be with Grace?
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: a little parenthesis in eternity [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761496
Comments: 68
Kudos: 425





	take off your mask (it's nice to meet)

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Сними маску (приятно познакомиться)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29090148) by [WTF Hawaii Five-0 2021 (fandom_HawaiiFive0_2018)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandom_HawaiiFive0_2018/pseuds/WTF%20Hawaii%20Five-0%202021)



> *looks at angsty WIP* this does not spark joy  
> *looks at fluff WIP* this does spark joy.
> 
> Marie Kondo, thank you for encouraging me to focus on this fic first. We all need more fluff these days. 
> 
> Title from the song ‘Alcatraz’ by Oliver Riot, which coincidentally begins with the line, “moving out west, things got lonely.” So if you like having background music for your fanfic reading, this is the song for this story.

_ March 10th, 2010 _

It had been years since Steve had flown commercial as his shore leaves usually were spent in the nearest big city close to where he was stationed, where he could rent a reasonably clean motel room close to reasonably decent bars and restaurants. But, for the first time in years, his father has gotten in touch, asking him to come 'home' at his next leave. Apparently, after years of distance and polite telephone conversations, his father had something he needed to share with his only son that couldn't be said over the phone.

So here Steve was, bumping his way past strangers trying to fight for space for their bags in the overhead lockers, young couples juggling their newborn child with diaper bags and bottled breastmilk, teenagers with headphones around their head, knees on the seat in front, eyes glued to their Gameboys. 

He was glad, for once, to not be wearing his dress blues if only to avoid the eye fucking he would have received from the single ladies, and some single men, during the entire six-hour flight between New York and Los Angeles. Dressed in cargo pants and a polo t-shirt, Steve could be just any guy. 

Finally making it down the crowded aisle to row 25, Steve gave a cursory glance at the blonde guy sitting in the window seat, next to his own allocated aisle seat. Hauling up his olive green duffle bag, Steve stuffed it in the overhead compartment next to the black duffle he assumed belonged to the blond and sat down next to the man who would be his competition for the middle armrest for the next few hours. As there was no middle seat, it would be fair game but Steve figured after surviving BUD/S, this would be a battle already won. 

Buckling his seat belt, Steve glanced around, making a note of the closest exit, the passengers sitting in front of, behind, and next to him. He'd already twigged the air marshal sitting three rows ahead, and Steve was confident that if anything did go down, he would be able to disarm the air marshal and use his weapon to contain any situation. 

Satisfied that there were no red flags to watch out for around him, Steve's attention turned to the man on his left. Broad-shouldered, muscley, blond, he appeared to be roughly the same age as Steve, and clearly a local to the east coast if the accent was anything to go by.

Because man, was the guy getting riled up by whoever he was speaking to on his phone, enough that he hadn't even  _ looked _ Steve's way since he sat down. And Steve was used to being looked at wherever he went. 

"- told you, I don't need to take everything with me now, Ma. I've got what I need for the next few weeks, you can send the rest once I've got a place. No, ma, I'm not asking Rachel to store stuff for me, what's wrong with you? Look, go to sleep, it's 6 am, what are you even doing up? I'll call when I've landed, okay? No, don't cry, I'll hang up if you cry. I promise I'll call. And yes, I'll give Grace your love and the Barbie. Go to sleep! Okay, love you too, speak to you later."

By the time the other man had hung up his call, Steve had begun poking through the contents of the seat pocket in front of him, glad that soon the pilot would be asking all phones to be turned off for the duration of travel. As the theme from Psycho started blasting from the man's phone followed by a muttered ‘son of a bitch’ as the man accepted the call, Steve prayed that announcement would come soon.

"Yes, dear?" Steve bit his lip to prevent a smile at the man's tone. "Rachel, no! I don't care if the governor herself wants to take Grace out to tea tomorrow, I am seeing my daughter when I land, end-of! No, don't you dare, I'm the one who hasn't seen his kid in two months because  _ someone _ decided to fuck off to the other end of the country! I'll call once I've got my rental, then I'm coming to pick her up. Okay? Rach-, no, I'm not arguing with you, there is nothing to argue over, it's a done deal. Rach-... Rachel! Gotta go, about to take-off, gotta turn off my phone, see you tomorrow!" 

Steve's amusement must have been clear because the blonde man immediately turned to face him and Steve tried not to flinch at the ire in the blue eyes being suddenly turned on him. He was a Navy SEAL for god's sake. He faced down terrorists on a near-daily basis. No ex-husband could compete.

"What? Something funny, big guy? Huh?" 

Steve shrugged, keeping his face neutral. "Nah, just relieved."

"Relieved? About what?"

"Just you know," Steve wiggled his fingers towards the engine that was just visible from the window next to Danny's seat. "If we do somehow end up leaking fuel during our flight, I don't have to worry about the engines cutting out." Steve paused long enough to see confusion settle in the man's gaze. "Your bitterness can power us through to landing." 

It was like watching a movie in slow motion, the man's confusion turning to anger once again. "You're a piece of work, big guy. I'm so glad I have you to keep me company these six hours."

Steve smiled. "You're very welcome." 

Any further comment from the man was interrupted as the theme from Psycho filled the air again. With a roll of his eyes, the blond man turned away from Steve and brought the phone up to his ear. "What now, Rachel? Short of you calling a bomb threat to stop this flight, I am seeing my kid tomorrow. Oh, heeeey monkey, I'm sorry, I thought your mum was calling." Steve's eyes widened at the sudden change in the man's tone, and he hoped to God his mouth wasn't open as he turned to face the sudden Dr. Jekyll that had replaced the Mr. Hyde he thought he'd been sat next to. "What are you doing up, it's way past your bedtime! Aw, I appreciate the call baby, but you need to sleep so you're all rested for our day of fun tomorrow. I promise I'll come to you straight from the airport, we'll do whatever you want. Okay, sleep tight monkey, and remember, Danno loves you."

Steve's gaze must have been heavy because the man sighed and closed his eyes before asking, "What now?"

"What's a Danno?" 

"It's none of your damn business, that's what it is. What, they didn't teach you how not to eavesdrop in the army?"

"I'm in the navy, and we're in a closed metal tube, kinda impossible to not eavesdrop, buddy. And hey, how'd you know I was military?"

"Because I'm not blind, genius. You might wanna relax those shoulders before the g-force from takeoff cracks your spine. They also teach you not to relax in the army?"

"For god's sake, it's the navy. NA-VY. I'm not a Jarhead, I'm a SEAL." 

"If you're a seal, I’m a killer whale."

"SEAL, as in Sea, Air and Land,  _ genius _ ."

"Thanks for the lesson, buddy, I was just beginning to wonder if I needed to pour water on you every hour to keep you moist for the flight." 

Whatever Steve's response would have been to the wise-ass currently taking up sixty percent of the middle armrest was lost as a flight attendant came by passing around warm towelettes. Wiping his hands as a distraction from wrapping them around the guy's throat and squeezing tight, Steve closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to re-center himself. Six hours, and he would never have to see this guy again. It was his fault for even engaging with a stranger, he wasn't used to flying commercial, nor hanging around with civilians outside of a hook-up bar.

A sharp jab to his left bicep had him opening his eyes and turning to look at the man who had the sheer audacity to poke a Navy SEAL. The man was lucky he didn’t end up with a broken finger, except Steve was fairly sure that would have resulted in the air marshal being summoned and the flight being delayed, and that’s the last thing he wanted. 

"What?" Steve asked, hoping his tone conveyed adequately how close the guy came close to losing a finger. Apparently not well enough as his eyes showed no remorse for his poking. 

"I need to get something from my bag," the man replied, pointing towards the overhead compartment. 

"We literally just sat down."

"Um, no. I've been sat here for over half an hour. You're the guy who thinks boarding at the very last minute is cool. Did they have to call you by name to get you out of duty-free?"

"What's the point of sitting in a cramped seat when you could be sitting on a nice chair in the boarding lounge? The flight is not gonna leave any sooner if I board early," argued Steve.

"Thanks for the second lesson, o veritable font of wisdom. Now, will you move or do I need to climb over you, wise guy? Because I will, and I won't be gentle."

Rolling his eyes, Steve unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up, standing just in the aisle so the man could shimmy out and open the locker, raising an eyebrow as he realized the man only came up to his shoulder. Considering how larger than life the man had seemed seated, his height was kind of… sweet. Steve resisted the temptation to use his greater height to take out the man's duffel for him.

"You know, if you're going to be one of those people constantly needing to get up and out of your seat, you shouldn't have gone for a window seat," Steve said as the other man grabbed a book out of his bag before zipping it closed. 

"What are you, the advice police? How about this? If you didn't want to get up for other people, you shouldn't have picked the aisle seat." The man said as he shoved his bag back into the overhead locker. 

"I'm over six feet tall, you want me trying to fit into a window seat with these legs?" Steve, being the gentleman that he was, shut the compartment and followed the man back into their seats, trying not to stare too hard at the excellent ass being presented to him. The Navy was filled with men in peak physical condition and although Steve doesn't make a habit of checking out the posteriors of the men he served with, he was fairly sure he would have remembered if any had any hope of matching the ass on the guy next to him. Clearly, whatever the guy lacked in height, he made up for in other ways. 

"I'll fit you into the locker and keep my bag on your seat if it means having any peace," Steve heard the other man grumble as he buckled himself back in, book on his lap but not opened. 

"Fine," Steve replied, pausing when the pilot started announcing flight details and requesting the flight attendants to prepare for take-off. "I'll give you peace, but on one condition." Steve was going to blame his behavior on nerves for going home for the first time in years. Or maybe he’d hit his head harder than he’d thought during his team’s last mission. This was not normal behavior for him, but a large part of him was enjoying needling the man next to him too much. 

It was a good distraction if nothing else. And Steve was all about distractions. 

"What's that?"

"What's a Danno?" 

Steve had to bite back a smile as the other man huffed and shook his head. The victory was his.

"Fine. When my daughter, Grace, was little, about three years old, she tried to say my name, all that came out was Danno, okay? Not Danny, Danno.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Huh. That’s cute.” It really was. Steve hesitated for a moment. “I’m Steve.”

“Hi, Steve. I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but a) I had no choice, and b), you promised me peace. Can I have my peace now?”

Steve smirked and settled into his seat a bit more, closing his eyes as he felt the plane taxied onto the runway. “Whatever you want, Danno.”

“Don’t call me Danno!”

Steve didn’t reply, his smirk growing into a smile at the agitation in Danny’s voice, and he let take-off carry him off into sleep. 

He jerked awake a short time later as the food trolley rattled past. Blinking his eyes to clear the muzziness that only sleeping on a plane could cause, he rubbed his hand over his face, only then realizing that something was off.

Someone had covered him with a blanket whilst he’d slept.

Scratch that, someone had covered  _ them _ with  _ a _ blanket whilst  _ they’d _ slept. As in, his head was currently cushioned on something.

Jesus, his head was resting on Danny’s head, whose own head was on Steve’s shoulder. 

Fuck. 

This would never happen when traveling on naval aircraft. He was never flying commercial again. 

Gently lifting his head from Danny’s, Steve couldn’t help but notice his neck didn’t hurt. His shoulder was at an ideal height for Danny's head, in turn making Danny’s head be at the optimum angle for Steve’s head to sleep on. Not that anyone needed to know this. 

“Aw, you’re up, I’m glad.” Steve jumped slightly at the voice of the flight attendant who had come to stand next to him, causing Danny to shift slightly as he carried on sleeping using Steve as a pillow. 

“I’m sorry?”

“Oh it’s just you two both looked so tired, I didn’t want to wake you up for breakfast. But we haven’t finished service yet, would you like me to bring you some? And your partner, do you think he’d like to eat?” 

“Umm, he’s… he’s not…,” Steve began but then gave up as the blinding smile being cast his way by the flight attendant threw him off. “I’ll wake him up and ask.”

“Okay, good, I’ll be back in a minute.” Patting Steve on the shoulder, the flight attendant moved away towards the gulley. 

Turning to the man on his shoulder who carried on sleeping like the dead, soft snores emanating from his slightly open mouth, Steve pondered his options.

And decided revenge was a dish best served cold. 

“Ow, ow, what the fuck?” Danny exclaimed in reaction to Steve’s not very gentle pokes to his side, the pain distracting him from the fact that he’d been using Steve as a pillow. “What’s your problem, man?” 

“Do you want breakfast?” Steve asked, trying not to smile as the imprint of his shoulder on the man’s reddened cheek. 

“What?”

“Breakfast. First meal of the day. Derived from the concept of the breaking of a fast-,"

“Oh for the love of God, shut up,” Danny mumbled as he rubbed his hands over his face before slicking his hair back into some semblance of order. “And yes, get me food before I do something I regret like punch a Navy SEAL in the face.”

Steve was not an idiot, he could tell when a person was lying. Danny was not lying. 

“Breakfast for both of us, please,” Steve said with his nicest smile when the flight attendant - Emma, according to her badge - passed by their seats.

“Coming right up,” she replied. 

“What time is it?” he heard Danny mumble. 

_ Time you got a watch _ , Steve thought in his head, but he wisely didn’t voice it. “It’s eleven hundred hours, Eastern. We should land in about an hour.”

“Thank God,” Danny replied as he turned to look out the window, Steve looking at Danny looking out the window. 

The arrival of breakfast and, more importantly, coffee, was welcomed by both men. Steve wolfed down the scrambled eggs and sausage and was just uncapping the little plastic bowl of fruit when he noticed that Danny had not moved. 

"What?" He asked, popping a strawberry into his mouth. God, he missed strawberries. MRE's weren't bad, but there was nothing like fresh strawberries. 

Danny continued to look at him, something akin to horror on his face as he stared at Steve, his cup of coffee partly raised to his lips.

"What?" Steve asked again, now annoyed. This seemed to shake Danny out of his stupor as he took a sip of coffee before peeling back the foil covering of his own scrambled eggs and sausage.

"Nothing, nothing. Just didn't realize I was about to watch an episode of Animal Planet."

Steve frowned as he picked out a grape from the fruit cup. "What are you on about?"

Danny shrugged, casting a quick glance at Steve as he took a bite of his meal. "Nothing, just realized they must not feed you much in the army." Before Steve could protest, Danny spoke again. "Hey, you wanna trade?"

"Trade what?" Steve asked, looking mournfully at his now empty fruit cup, wondering if flirting with Emma would get him more or if it would be better to swipe some from the gulley under the guise of going to the toilet. 

"Your bread roll for my fruit cup. Think mine has pineapple, and I hate pineapple, and you look like you haven't had a carb in the last ten years."

"Deal!" Steve passed over his bread roll and snagged the fruit cup off of Danny's tray. "Thanks, bud, I love pineapple."

"I figured."

"How'd you figure?"

"Because you're weird. That's how I figured."

Steve frowned, his glow at having relatively fresh pineapple dampened by Danny's words. "I'm not weird."

“Uh, yeah you are. I’m a cop, I know a weirdo when I see one.”

“You’re a cop?” Steve asked, surprised. He’d have gone for a lawyer, maybe an accountant at a push. His only acquaintances were military, he hardly spent any time in the real world, how was he supposed to know what normal people did for a living? 

“Yeah, a detective. New Jersey PD, homicide. Well, I  _ was _ with NJPD.”

“What changed?”

“My ex-wife remarried and decided to drag my kid five thousand miles west to be with her new husband, is what changed. So I’m following.”

Steve winced. He’d gathered as much from the phone calls, but it was another thing to have it confirmed in such black and white terms. “That sucks, man. But you know that LA and New Jersey are only, like, three thousand miles apart.”

“Thanks for the geography lesson, and yes, I know. And if I’d been moving to LA, I would have said three thousand miles. But LA’s just a layover. Got my next flight in a few hours.”

“Five thousand miles west,” Steve muttered under his breath, picturing a map in his head. “Wait, you’re moving to Hawaii?”

“Why do you sound so shocked? You think Hawaii doesn’t have any murders that need investigating?”

“No, it’s just… I’m flying to Hawaii too. That’s my home, I grew up there.”

“... you’re serious.”

“Yeah man, I swear.”

“Huh.”

“And hey, if you’re working for HPD, you might meet my dad. John McGarrett.”

“Your dad’s a cop?”

“Yup, almost thirty years now, although he may retire soon.”

“Wow. I’ll keep an eye out for him. Tell him he’s got a weird son, that’ll break the ice.”

Steve rolled his eyes but let the insult go. Instead, he took the high road and asked, “Want a piece of advice?”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m going to get it even if I say no?”

“Just… maybe lose the tie before you get to Hawaii?” Steve pointed at the dark blue silk tie which he’d found an extraneous item of clothing to wear for a flight, but he’d thought Danny was an accountant who was flying to LA, and mainlanders were uptight anyway. But if Danny was flying to  _ Hawaii  _ in this get-up…the man clearly needed a crash course in the aloha spirit. Steve was more than happy to provide, as a son of the islands, it would be his honored duty. 

“My daughter got me this tie.”

“Well, get your daughter to get you some Hawaiian shirts, you’ll fit right in.” 

“Over my dead body,” replied Danny, before suddenly smiling at something over Steve’s shoulder. A ray of sunlight had filtered through the windows from the opposite side of the plane and Steve’s breath caught as the light cast Danny’s hair as golden, and his blue eyes looked almost see-through. 

“May I take your trays, sirs?” Steve jumped as he realized Danny had been smiling at Emma, their flight attendant. 

Steve handed over his tray before taking Danny’s and passing it along, giving Emma his best smile to make up for his distraction who grinned in return. 

“Please buckle your seat-belts, gentlemen, the captain will be starting landing procedures soon,” advised Emma as she moved away, but not before casting another smile at Steve over her shoulder. 

Steve winced as he felt a poke in his left bicep. This was worse than sitting next to a child.

“What now?” he groused, turning to Danny. 

“Gotta hit the head, move.”

“What’s the magic word?” Steve asked. He could be childish too. 

Danny rolled his eyes. “Please sir, might you vacate your seat before I wet my pants?”

“As you wish,” Steve mumbled as he too rolled his eyes and stood up and moved into the aisle, but just to be an ass, he stayed close to the armrest so that Danny (or rather, Danny’s ass) had to brush past him to get into the aisle and head to the toilet. 

Figuring he may as well stand whilst waiting for Danny to return, Steve reached up and stretched his back and arms. Although the seats were more comfortable than he was used to on naval aircraft, sitting in a small enclosed space for hours at a time was never Steve’s version of a good time. 

Danny returned just as the captain put the seat-belt sign on and before much longer, the plane had landed. Being the gentleman that he was, Steve took down Danny’s duffle bag for him, the quick glance at the name tag a coincidence even as it told Steve Danny’s last name.  _ Williams. _

“Thanks, man,” Danny said as he accepted his bag and stood in the gap Steve left for him in the aisle as they waited for the airbridge to be connected to the door, his unread book in his hands. 

“Anytime,” Steve replied. “Hey, maybe I’ll see you on the flight to Honolulu.”

Danny glanced over his shoulder at Steve just as the queue in front of them started moving as passengers began de-boarding. 

“Lightning never strikes the same place twice, babe, that’s my lesson to you,” Danny said with a grin and wink before walking away.

It took a man coughing pointedly behind him for Steve to shake himself out of his stupor, by which time Danny had mingled in with the rest of the passengers and disappeared. 

Next time he saw Danny, he was going to teach him a lesson on how there were exceptions to every rule. 

  
  


_ Three hours later _

"You have got to be kidding me," were the first words out of Danny's mouth as he saw Steve board the plane, muttered under his breath. "You have  _ got _ to be kidding me," he repeated, louder when Steve started walking down his side of the plane. "You have GOT to be kidding me," said Danny, loudly, when Steve stopped in front of his row, put his green duffle bag into the overhead compartment next to Danny's black duffel bag, and sat down in the empty aisle seat right next to Danny. 

"Hey, Danno! Small world, huh?" Danny refused to be charmed by the little boy grin on the face of a man he'd first met a mere nine hours ago who now apparently saw Danny as his best friend.

"I don't believe this," Danny hissed. "How is this even possible?"

The little boy grin turned into a frown and Danny resisted the jolt in his stomach. He was strong. He would resist. 

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, his brows furrowed. 

"I mean how is it even  _ possible  _ that we get seated next to each, two flights in a row? I mean, this plane is three hundred seats, easy."

"Well," Steve began as he buckled his seat-belt. "It's not that strange. You seem to have a preference for window seats, and I prefer the aisle, so we were never going to be allocated two window seats or two aisle seats. Plus, we're two single men traveling alone, so unlike families who need to be seated together, they can just place us anywhere. Especially on this flight as it's usually families or couples going to Hawaii for vacation."

Danny's face must have conveyed his continued disbelief because Steve kept rambling. "What? Do you think I'm some stalker, Danny? That I hacked into United's systems, found out what your seat was, and then allocated myself the seat next to you? And all this in the three hours between our flights?"

Danny huffed a laugh. "You know, I barely know you, but I wouldn't put it past you."

Steve smiled, relaxing back into his seat. "Well, I didn't say I  _ couldn't  _ do it. But I promise, I didn't do any hacking, I'm not a stalker."

"Then how do you explain this?"

Steve looked pensive for a moment, his eyes looking upwards as he scratched at his chin, his elbow taking up the middle armrest. Bastard. But a good opportunity for Danny to ogle his excellent bone structure without the other man being aware.

" _ Hopena,"  _ Steve finally said. 

"Hoppy pen what?"

Steve laughed, and Danny noted that the US military made sure its operatives had excellent dental care provided for them. Nice to see how his tax dollars were at work. Fair enough, he couldn’t have people defending his country be distracted by dental pain. 

_ "Hopena.  _ It means fate, or destiny, in Hawaiian. You know, the state where you're headed right now? You can start learning the language now."

"I'm not learning any Hawaiian. And you don't look like the kinda guy who believes in all this destiny crap."

"I don't know, man. Seen a lot of shit I can't always explain during my time in the navy. A lot of dodged bullets that can't always be down to luck. Plus, I'm  _ kamaʻāina _ . I don't know how much you know about Hawaiian folklore but I've never been able to dismiss that maybe all the stories might have something to them."

"Yeah, people going loopy from too much sun and pineapple."

"I wouldn't say that too loud, buddy. You're surrounded by Hawaiians or people who have spent a big chunk of their savings going there for vacation."

Danny shrugged and turned to look out the window. As if he needed the reminder that unlike all the other happy people on this plane, he was neither going home nor going for vacation. "Whatever."

"You know,” Steve started and when he didn’t continue, Danny turned to look at him. 

“What?” he asked, annoyed. 

“It’s just… I think it’s really cool what you’re doing, man. Leaving home just so you can see your kid grow up, that’s amazing. Your kid’s lucky to have you as a father.”

Danny searched Steve’s expression for any sign that he was just yanking Danny’s chain, but no, the man’s face was open. Earnest, even. 

“Um, thanks. Appreciate it.”

“No worries, man. I mean it.’ Steve paused before carrying on, his voice taking on a note of hesitancy. “It’s just… my old man, he did the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

“He sent me and my sister away to the mainland when I was 15. I went to boarding school, then joined the navy. My sister grew up with our aunt. I haven’t seen her since we left home.”

“Shit, man. That’s tough. When’s the last time you came home?”

“Couple of years ago, maybe? Was posted for a few weeks at Pearl, but got sent out on a mission soon after.”

“Why did your dad send you away? Where was your mum in all this?” Danny regretted asking the question as he saw the flash of pain cross the other man’s features. He couldn’t help the questions, as a detective he was nosy both by nature and profession. It drove Rachel crazy sometimes, she would yell at him to stop treating her like a suspect during some of their uglier fights. 

“She, uh, she died in a car crash a few weeks before we got shipped out. Think my dad couldn’t cope with raising us on his own.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Steve.” Unable to resist, Danny reached out and squeezed Steve’s wrist briefly before moving his arm so the taller man could have the whole of the middle arm-rest to himself. Danny couldn’t offer much to make up for a dead mum and an absent father, but he could offer this. 

“Thanks, man, but it’s ancient history.”

“So how come you’re flying home now?” Danny asked, wanting to remove the look on Steve’s face which showed he was still lost in his memories. 

“Oh. Dad called, said he had something important he wanted to discuss with me,”

“That sounds ominous,” Danny murmured. 

“Yeah. Guess I’ll find out when I get home later today.”

Danny liked to think he resisted the urge for a good long while, but it was probably only a few seconds before he said: “Listen, if you want to grab a beer or something at some point, I can probably do that. You probably have lots of friends to catch up with though.”

“No.”

Danny nodded, turning his face towards the window, surprised at how much the rejection stung. The man next to him was a complete stranger, and they were forced to be together by the guiles of the airline’s seat allocation system. Just because Danny was going to be all alone in Hawaii other than for Grace didn’t mean this guy was. He was flying home after years, for God’s sake, he probably had a to-do list a mile long in terms of people he wanted to catch up with. 

So distracted was Danny by his own self-critical thoughts that he didn’t notice that Steve had carried on speaking. 

“... don’t think I’ve spoken to anybody from high school since the day I left. It wasn’t like Facebook was a thing when I left, and it was expensive to call home. So yeah, a beer sounds great, actually.”

“Oh. Okay, yeah sure.” Danny reached into his pocket, looking for something to write on. He dug out his boarding ticket stub from the NYC-LA flight and was about to look for a pen when Steve asked a passing flight attendant for theirs, his bright smile ensuring immediate compliance. 

“Thanks,” Danny said as he scribbled his number on the stub and handed both it and the pen back to Steve.

“Thanks, bud,” replied Steve as he tucked the ticket stub in one of the many pockets of his cargo pants. Jesus, who wore cargo pants in this day and age. “Hey listen, if it hasn’t closed in the time I’ve been away, there used to be a great place in Waikiki that served a killer ham and pineapple.”

Danny rolled his eyes. He can’t believe he’d just given his number to a guy who willingly ate fruit on his pizza. Taking a deep breath, he turned to his new friend and began to educate him on the finer points of pizza, and what should and should not belong on it. 

A few hours later, Danny stood at the baggage carousel, waiting for his last piece of luggage, hoping against hope his first day in Hawaii wouldn’t begin with the airline losing his bags. That would be a shit omen for his time on the islands. His stomach was a bundle of nerves as he knew he was one last bag and one rental car away from seeing his little girl again, after two long months of separation as Danny jumped through the hoops of transferring across police departments. 

Distracted as he was in his search for his bag, he didn’t notice Steve approaching until he heard a soft ‘hey’ from somewhere behind him. 

Turning, he was surprised to see the other man. “Hey. Thought you’d be long gone. You’ve only got two weeks leave, why are you wasting it at an airport?”

If Danny didn’t know better, he could have sworn the other man looked a bit nervous. What did six-feet muscle-bound Navy SEALS get nervous about on their home turf, he wondered.

“Listen,” Steve started. “You’re seeing your daughter now, right?”

“Yeah, gonna rent a car then go to her. Why?’

Steve didn’t answer his question, instead asking another of his own. “Is she spending the night with you? Or are you gonna take her back to her mom’s?”

“I’ve gotta drop her back at Rachel’s by seven, it’s a school night,” Danny replied before asking again, “Why?”

Yup, that was definitely nerves he was seeing on the other man’s face. “Listen, feel free to tell me to fuck off, but wanna grab dinner tonight, once you’ve dropped your daughter off?” 

“Uh yeah, sure. I mean, I was just gonna grab something from a convenience store-” Danny almost laughed at the look of horror that took over Steve’s feature. This guy had seen combat, but clearly convenience store food was his kryptonite. “But no, dinner sounds great. But won’t your dad want to eat with you at home?”

Steve’s smile was sad and it took all of Danny not to pull the guy into a hug. “If he cared that much about having dinner with me, he would have asked me to come home years ago. It’s your first night in Hawaii, that only happens once. I’ll call you?”

“Yeah, sure, call, we’ll sort it out. You sure?” 

“A hundred percent.” With a weird hand gesture involving his thumb and pinkie finger which Danny couldn’t even begin to figure out, Steve shot Danny one last smile before he hefted his duffel bag over his shoulder and walked away. 

Shaking his head, Danny turned back to the baggage carousel and almost whooped for joy as he saw his bag come through. 

He was going to take it as a good omen for his time in Hawaii. 

  
  


_ Ten years later _

“So, um, I’ve got a confession to make.”

Danny turned to where his partner was seated in the wooden beach chair next to him, giving him a quick once over before turning his face back towards the ocean. 

“Oh yeah? If it’s to say you had the last of the cheesecake I was saving for myself, I already know it was you.”

“That wasn’t me, I swear, it was Eddie. And no, I’ve got a confession about something that I did ten years ago.”

“Ten years ago?” 

“Yeah, ten years ago today, actually.”

“You can say the anniversary of our meeting, Steven, I won’t think you’re a sap.” 

“I’m not a sap. You’re the one who wanted to go to Nobu tonight to celebrate.” 

“You’re the one who took me out to dinner my first night in Hawaii, which was technically our first date even if it took you a whole  _ year  _ to grow a pair and kiss me. But fine, whatever, you’re not a sap, I’m the sap. So what’s this you’ve gotta confess? Am I gonna hear it before our twentieth anniversary?”

“You’re such a whiner. If you’d let me speak without interrupting, I’d tell ya.”

“Go on, I’ll all ears. Shock me.”

“I will.” Danny opened his eyes as he heard Steve shift in his seat, perturbed by the uncharacteristic nervous behaviour of his badass task force leader of a partner. “You know how we met on the flight to LA, we were sat next to each other, completely by chance?”

“Yes, I remember, Steve, it was only ten years ago, I have socks that are older than that.”

“Shut up, and also, that’s disgusting, I’m throwing them out and getting you new ones. Anyway, you know how we also ended up sat next to each other again on the flight to Honolulu?”

“Yes, you said it was  _ hopena. _ ” It took all of Danny’s willpower to not make the inverted commas symbol with his fingers around the Hawaiian word. 

“Yeah, about that…” When Steve failed to carry on, Danny turned to look at him, surprised by the sheepish look on the other man’s face.

“What about it, Steve?” Danny pressed.

“Well, I, um…. I mighthaveflirtedwiththeticketlady,” blurted out Steve in a rush. 

“Woah woah woah, babe, say that again, slowly, and in English. You can do it, come on.”

His partner huffed and looked Danny in the eye. ‘I  _ said, _ I might have flirted with the airline representative at the United counter during our layover and gotten my seat changed so I would be sitting next to you again.”

For a minute, only the sound of the waves crashing against their little private stretch of beach could be heard. 

“So let me get this straight,” Danny said finally. “All that shit you fed me on the plane that you weren’t a stalker, that you hadn’t hacked your way into sitting next to me, was complete and total bullshit?”

“Well, no, because I didn’t hack, I flirted. And it’s not stalking, I was always going to be on that flight.”

“Yeah, sure babe, whatever helps you sleep at night. So all that crap about us sitting next to each other being destiny?” 

Steve shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. “Well, the first meeting  _ was _ completely down to fate. I just didn’t want to take a risk with the second flight, so I helped fate along. You never know, we could have run into each other on the island later by accident, I was on leave for two weeks. Maybe I’d have gone to see my dad at HPD and run into you there.”

“Sure, ‘run into me’,” Danny didn’t resist making the inverted commas with his fingers this time. “You knew I was a cop, you knew I’d be at HPD.”

“Yeah, well whatever. My point is, our meeting was fate, it just wasn’t all  _ hopena  _ though.”

“Okay… and why is this coming out now, ten years later?”

“Well, I just felt, you know, that I deserve more credit that I’ve been given.”

“So let me get this straight. You lied, ten years ago, and now you’re telling me you want more credit. For what, us being together?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Oh babe, I knew you were  _ loco _ , but I didn’t know you were this  _ loco _ .”

“I know you know the Hawaiian word, Danno, don’t pretend.”

“Fine, I knew you were  _ lōlō _ , but I didn’t know you were this _ lōlō _ . Better?”

“Yes, better. You’re welcome, by the way. God knows how long you would have lasted in HPD if I hadn’t gone into the reserves and started Five-O and drafted you.”

“Excuse me. You only started Five-O because it gave you an excuse to stay on the islands and be with me. Don’t go all revisionist history on me, buddy.”

“Fine, whatever,” Steve grumbled as he stood up. Danny peered up at him but smirked as his partner came towards him and knelt in the sand in front of Danny. Shifting forward, Danny placed his hands on Steve’s waist, his fingers reaching under the other man’s vest to caress the skin underneath. 

“Anyway, what I meant to say, last year, when this conversation first started,” Steve began as he hooked his fingers in the belt loops of Danny’s shorts, pulling his partner even closer towards him, Danny’s knees widening so they bracketed Steve’s torso, “is that all I knew, from those few hours we spent together on the flight to LA, was that you were special, and I needed more time with you to figure out how special. So I made sure that happened, and I knew because of the flight to Oahu by the time we landed, I wasn’t just going to let you go. So you’re welcome.” 

Danny smiled, bringing a hand up to cup Steve’s cheek. “And why did you wait ten whole years to tell me this?”

“Well, I figured I’ve infiltrated every aspect of your life by now, so you won’t leave me even if you did find out what I’d done.”

“You idiot, we’ve been married five years. We’ve got a house, and a dog, and a Grace and a Charlie.”

“I know, but couldn’t take the risk, in case it ruined the magic of our meeting for you. But I told myself that if we made it ten years, I’d tell you.”

Danny’s other hand came up so that he could cup the face of his goofball in his hands. 

“You’re such a sap,” said Danny, leaning forward until his lips an inch from Steve’s. “The magic was all because of you, who you are, not how we met.”

“But I’m  _ your _ sap,” whispered Steve, his breath warm against Danny’s face, pressing his forehead against Danny’s. “And you’re my magic.”

“Damn right,” whispered Danny in return as he closed the distance between their lips, their kiss as magical as their first ever one. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've realised I can spend hours just writing Steve and Danny dialogue. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! It's a crazy time, let's appreciate the simple things. 
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos are love at the press of a button. That sounds dodge, but it's not.


End file.
